Finger extension

ABSTRACT

A finger extension is disclosed for assisting a person in holding down material with a finger of the person. The finger extension may comprise a body portion and a pawl. The body extension has side flanges that extend laterally around the finger of the person. The side flanges are malleable so that a person may bend the side flanges against the person&#39;s finger so that the finger extension may be retained on the person&#39;s finger during use. The pawl extends out from the body portion. A distal tip of the pawl is used to hold down the material and allows the person to keep his or her finger away from a work head (e.g. sewing head) at a safe distance.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/642,381, filed on May 3, 2012, the entire content of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference.

STATEMENT RE: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND

The various embodiments disclosed herein relate to a finger extension worn by a person so that the person can hold down a work piece while keeping the person's finger a safe distance away from the work piece and/or a mechanical operation.

A sewing machine is often used to secure two pieces of material together. To do so, the user must lay the two pieces of material one on top of the other while pressing the two pieces down together as he or she moves the two pieces of material closer to a sewing head. The sewing head has a needle and a guide which holds the two pieces of material down upon a work surface near the needle. However, the user must still hold the two pieces of material down as close to the guide as possible to guide the two pieces of material under the guide and to provide a better stitch. Unfortunately, over a long period of time, the user may inadvertently come too close to the sewing head and be injured by the needle.

Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved method and device for sewing two pieces of material together with a sewing machine.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The various embodiments disclosed herein address the needs discussed above, the needs discussed below and those that are known in the art.

A finger extension that can be worn by a person on his or her finger is disclosed. When the finger extension is placed on the person's finger, the person can use a distal tip of the finger extension to hold down a work piece while the work piece is being moved closer to a work head or other dangerous situation. By way of example and not limitation, the finger extension may be used while operating a sewing machine. The user may press down on two pieces of fabric to be sewn together by the sewing machine. The tip of the finger extension presses down on the two pieces of fabric near the location of the stitch to be made by the sewing machine. Since the tip of the finger extension is offset from the tip of the person's finger, the person's finger is kept at a safe distance away from the sewing head of the sewing machine. The finger extension also has two flanges that can be spread open or closed down depending on the size of the person's finger upon which the finger extension is mounted. The two flanges are located on the sides of the body portion on the finger extension and are fabricated from a malleable material so that upon deformation, the side flanges can be wrapped tightly around the person's finger and the finger extension retained thereon.

More particularly, a finger extension is disclosed for assisting a person in holding a material with a finger of the person. The extension may comprise a body portion and a pawl. The body portion may have side flanges that extend out laterally around a finger of the person. The side flanges may be malleable so that the person may bend the side flanges against the person's finger so that the finger extension is retained on the person's finger. The pawl may extend out from the body portion.

The side flanges may be fabricated from aluminum.

The pawl may have a pointed tip. The pointed tip of the pawl may have a rounded tip or a sharp tip configuration. The pawl may be bent downward.

The body portion may be curved so as to comfortably receive the person's finger.

In another aspect, a method of utilizing a finger extension to prevent injury is disclosed. The method may comprise the steps of aligning two flat pieces of material together; wearing a finger extension on a finger; pressing the two flat pieces of material together with the finger extension; and attaching the two flat pieces of material together.

The wearing step may include the step of bending side flanges on the finger.

The pressing step may include the step of contacting a pawl of the finger extension on one of the two flat pieces of material and pushing down with the finger.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features and advantages of the various embodiments disclosed herein will be better understood with respect to the following description and drawings, in which like numbers refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the finger extension in use;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the finger extension;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the finger extension shown in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a top view of the finger extension after being stamped out of a sheet of material.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to the drawings, a finger extension 10 on a finger 12 is shown. The finger extension 10 has a pawl 14 that is used to push down an upper material 16 on a lower material 18. While the upper and lower materials 16, 18 are pushed toward a sewing head 20. The finger extension 10 keeps the fingertip 22 of the user at a safe distance away from the sewing head and behind a tip 24 of the pawl 18. Accordingly, as the materials 16, 18 are pushed toward the sewing head 20, the finger 12 of the person remains a safe distance away from the sewing head 20 to prevent injury to the finger 12.

The finger extension 10 has a body portion 26. This body portion 26 is sufficiently wide 28 and sufficiently long 30 to provide support to the underside surface of the person's finger 12. By way of example and not limitation, the body portion may have a width of about 1/2″to 5/8″. Additionally, the length of the body portion 26 may be about 1.5 inches. The body portion 26 is preferably curved (e.g., concave) to provide a fitting configuration to the underside surface of the person's finger 12.

Two side flanges 32, 34 may extend laterally outward from the body portion 26. These two (2) side flanges 32, 34 are also curved and wrapped around the person's finger 12. The side flanges 32, 34 may be malleable so that upon bending, the side flanges 32, 34 retain their bent shape. In this manner, during use, the person may insert his or her finger 12 into the space between the body portion 26 and the side flanges 32, 34. The person may press down upon the side flanges 32, 34 until the side flanges 32, 34 bear against the upper side of the person's finger 12. In this manner, the side flanges 32, 34 help to retain the finger extension 10 on the person's finger 12. If the person's finger 12 is too big for the default sizing of the side flanges 32, 34, then the person may spread open the side flanges 32, 34 until his or her finger may slip into the space defined by the body portion 26 and the side flanges 32, 34. Once inserted, the person may press down on the side flanges 32, 34 until the side flanges 32, 34 bear down upon the upper side of the person's finger 12 to help retain the finger extension 10 on the person finger 12.

Preferably, the body portion 26 and the side flanges 32, 34 do not have sharp edges or corners. To this extent, the edges may be ground down or provided with a fillet to prevent any cutting of the person's finger 12 during use. Moreover, the corner 36 may be rounded to prevent any cuts during use.

The pawl 14 may extend from the distal side of the body portion 26. The pawl 14 may have a tapered configuration and terminate into a round tip as shown in FIG. 2. Additionally, the pawl 14 may be bent slightly downward so that the distal tip 24 of the pawl 14 contacts the upper material 60 while the person's finger 12 is raised substantially above the upper material 16. More particularly, referring now to FIG. 3, the lower surface 38 of the body portion 26 is preferably straight. The pawl 14 is also preferably straight. The lower surface 38 of the body portion 26 and the pawl 14 form an angle 40 of about 160°±15°. However it is also contemplated that the pawl 14 may be in line (i.e., angle 40=180°) with the lower surface 38 of the body portion 26.

To manufacture the finger extension 10, the body portion 26, two (2) side flanges 32, 34 and the pawl 14 may be stamped from a sheet of malleable material, as shown in FIG. 4. Preferably, the sheet is about 1/32 of an inch thick. After stamping the overall shape of the finger extension 10, the side flanges 32, 34 and the body portion 26 are curved by use of a mandrel. After forming the curve, the pawl 14 is bent downward.

During use, the side flanges 32, 34 and the pawl 14 may be bent into position to provide optimal positioning of the pawl 14 to the work piece as well as grip of the side flanges 32, 34 onto the finger 12 of the person.

The above description of the finger extension 10 was given in relation to sewing two pieces of cloth together. However, the finger extension 10 may be utilized in a number of other situations to keep the finger tip of the person a safe distance away from a dangerous area. By way of example and not limitation, the finger extension may be utilized to assist in welding, scrap booking, hot gluing, related arts and crafts, building model airplanes and autos and precise detailing as an alternate to use of a stylus.

The above description is given by way of example, and not limitation. Given the above disclosure, one skilled in the art could devise variations that are within the scope and spirit of the invention disclosed herein, including various ways of fabricating the finger extension 10 such as through milling and welding. Further, the various features of the embodiments disclosed herein can be used alone, or in varying combinations with each other and are not intended to be limited to the specific combination described herein. Thus, the scope of the claims is not to be limited by the illustrated embodiments. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A finger extension is disclosed for assisting a person in holding a material with a finger of the person, the extension comprising: a body portion with side flanges that extend out laterally around a finger of the person, the side flanges being malleable so that the person bend the side flanges against the person's finger so that the finger extension is retained on the person's finger; and a pawl extending out from the body portion.
 2. The extension of claim 1 wherein the side flanges are fabricated from aluminum.
 3. The extension of claim 1 wherein the pawl has a pointed tip.
 4. The extension of claim 3 wherein the pointed tip has a rounded tip or a sharp tip configuration.
 5. The extension of claim 1 wherein the pawl is bent downward.
 6. The extension of claim 1 wherein the body portion is curved.
 7. A method of utilizing a finger extension to prevent injury, the method comprising the steps of: aligning two flat pieces of material together; wearing a finger extension on a finger; pressing the two flat pieces of material together with the finger extension; and attaching the two flat pieces of material together.
 8. The method of claim 7 wherein the wearing step includes the step of bending side flanges on the finger.
 9. The method of claim 7 wherein the pressing step includes the step of contacting a pawl of the finger extension on one of the two flat pieces of material and pushing down with the finger. 